Sunday, October 26, 2008

Infiltrating the Mainstream with underground subversive feminist art






A couple of weeks ago I received a phone call from the Independent Film Channel. They were interested in filming performance art performances around blood play at Femina Potens for Dave Navarro's upcoming tv show "Deeper". "Deeper" involves Dave diving into different edgy subcultures acting as both a voyeur and participant in some way. I feel like gaining larger wide spread exposure for queer and feminist art work is essential to destroying stigmas around different subcultures that lack visibility in the mainstream media such as queer culture and the sex worker community. IFC had come across Twincest's performances online and were interested in focusing on their work with some additional performances that also referenced the use of blood in performance and art. Enter performance artist Sadie Lune, who did some wonderfully creative blood portraits of the evening's performers. Dave also requested a portrait of himself which was painted using a combination of both Sadie's blood and Dave's blood.


I also contributed to the evening along with my dear friend and rope artist/collaborator, Lochai. Together we orchestrated a bloody rope suspension performance involving a ritual of dirt, cleansing in water and my body bound to the central post of the gallery and becoming drunken on rope in a beautiful suspension.

Twincest started off the evening by performing a very intimate piece involving the two artists drawing one another's blood filling up shot glasses with their fluid and swallowing in one big gulp. The air was thick with tension,fear, anxiety,eroticism and at the same time a sense of playfulness as Jez (who is actually afraid of both needles and blood) was instructed by her partner on how to find Shawn's veins and how to draw the blood and stick the needle. And then we watched as Shawn stuck the woozy Jez and filled the viles full of her blood.

The audience was all personally invited by the gallery and included local artists and friends such as Susan Forbes and performance artist and activist, Keith Hennessy as well as the fabulous writer and blogger, Violet Blue. All in all the evening could have been mistaken for any other performance evening at Femina Potens with the exception of the camera's and lights and producers running around making sure that we were all ready for Dave and that we continue to act natural when Dave entered the gallery. It was rather funny. They were a joy to work with but it's just the nature of inviting a little bit of Hollywood into our Queerdom of San Francisco.

Regardless of my feelings toward evil that is Hollywood, when it comes down to it we are choosing to create visibility for women and trans artists. If Hollywood is interested in helping us to further that visibility and getting queer performance art out not only to the mainstream but also to all of the emerging queers who are stuck in the suburbs of the midwest with only the tv as a window to civilization that exists outside of their small town, then maybe I'll believe in Hollywood this once. When queer youth are having a hard time finding communities to relate to, are failing to find resources in their small town, at least they can turn on the television to IFC and find a little bit of queer San Francisco in their living room, and that might just get them through the high school years.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Anal Health education at Folsom St Fair





Every September in San Francisco in a public celebration of community,leather culture, and every thing Kinky people gather from all over the world for the Folsom Street Fair. Kinks that are normally kept behind closed doors are invited in to the gated off streets. I feel like I have come home surrounded by fellow puppies, ponies, rope sluts, masochists, queers, slaves and owners. It is a family reunion of sorts. I split my time between a booth that Center for Sex and Culture shared with my gallery,Femina Potens and doing a suspension performance for Kink.com. I peddled my porn in exchange for getting fliers out regarding my feminist art space and a couple of bucks to put toward the gallery rent. Sitting at the gallery booth I was able to chat with passersby, fans, and community members. I met a beautiful Dominant woman and her very well behaved submissive who acknowledged me but was obviously in protocol. It made me tingle all over to see her behaving, to see her being the good girl that I so love to be. One gentleman came by to get his photograph taken with me and an autographed dvd. He later came back with a question. He was hesitant to ask. But he said he didn't know who else to talk to.

"So do you enjoy anal sex?"

Yes. I love it. I can orgasm more easily from anal sex than vaginal. Often in vaginal sex I feel like my cervix is being pounded but in anal sex I receive immense pleasure and can even receive g spot stimulation from my anus.

He had been wanting to engage in anal sex with his girlfriend but was worried about hurting her or causing an infection. He was too embarrassed to talk to anyone about it and didn't know who else to talk to. I feel like as sex workers we have an obligation to be educators. To educate ourselves, our clients, our customers, our web site members, our fans, our friends, our public.

We talked about cleanliness, the use of lube, ways to warm up a woman or man for anal play, different toys that can be incorporated. And that anal sex can be a very pleasurable experience for women and men.

It felt incredibly rewarding directly educating the public around anal pleasure. Below are a couple great web sites and tips on having pleasurable and safe anal play.

xo
madison

- Anal Tips from Madison Young

If you are having anal sex later in the evening have a light dinner and skip the alcohol,caffeine,burritos or anything that goes through your system quickly. Protein and carbs is a good bet.

Before sex prepare with an anal douche of luke warm water to rinse away any trace amounts of feces that might be in your rectum.

Get hot and bothered. Before any penetration it is nice to have some warm up. Do what ever you like to do that gets you hot. Make out. Oral Sex. Spanking. Flogging. Use a vibrator.

Lube is your friend. Use lube on your butt hole and on your fingers. Warm up with a finger then two, then three. I like to use my whole fist to warm up and I also have found a very nice lucite toy that works well for me. Experiment with what toys are your best warm up. Sometimes the toys are all I need. Sometimes there is a cock involved. Make sure to continue to use lube through out your anal adventures. Just because you had plenty of lube when you started fucking doesn't mean that you have plenty once you have been penetrated. My philosophy is that you can never have two much lube. I prefer silicone. Eros is an excellent brand.

Always make sure that fingers,toys,fists,cocks do not enter the vagina after entering your anus as you will be spreading bacteria. And bacterial infections aren't very fun. Condoms are a great way to keep things clean. Also latex gloves can be helpful for keeping hands clean so if you want to go back to the pussy after warming up with fingers you can just remove your glove.


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